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YouGov analysis of charity in Britain today

What motivates

charitable giving?


Contents

Introduction

Reaching the next generation of supporters

Charity brand rankings

Motivations for donating

Animal charities vs human charities

The tools behind the research

Can non-donors be persuaded?

Conclusion

03

15

10

22

05

20

13

23


Introduction

The vast majority of British adults (87%) have interacted with a

charity over the past year — either by giving their time or their money.

Donating money is the most popular method of giving, which 57% have

done. Giving goods to a charity shop is not far behind on 56%.

Donated money to charity

Given goods to charity

Signed a petition

Sponsored someone for a charity

Volunteered for a charity

Bought an ethical product

Taken part in a consultation about local

services or problems in your local area

Taken part in a public demonstration or protest

None of the above

57%

56%

49%

32%

28%

16%

13%

6%

13%

Which, if any, of the following have you done in the last year?

UK adults aged 16+ (Data taken from CAF's '2019 UK Giving Report’)


Of those who have recently donated money to a charity, almost four in

ten (38%) give to one particular cause but around a quarter (27%) give

to two, and about a third (34%) give to three or more. Overall, donors

seem to care about and support more than one issue.

This paper looks at which methods of giving are most favoured, which charity organisations are

most talked about, and how charities can continue to engage the next generation of givers.

Around a third of charity givers donate money to three or more causes

% of those who have recently donated ad hoc or regularly

1 2 3 4 5 6+

17%

9%

4%4%

38%

27%

Number of casues given to


02

Reaching the next

generation of supporters


02 Reaching the next generation of supporters

While donating money and donating goods are the most favoured

ways of giving overall, young people are quite different when it

comes to how they show their support.

Perhaps because they have fewer possessions to give away and less

disposable income, 16 to 24 year olds are much more likely to back

charities by volunteering their time instead.

Donated money to charity

57%

46%

Volunteered for a charity

16%

20%

Bought an ethical product

28%

32%

Given goods to charity

56%

31%

Sponsored someone

for a charity

32%

23%

Young people more likely to have volunteered

or signed a petition in the past year

Taken part in a public

demonstration or protest

6%

9%

Signed a petition

49%

53%

Taken part in a consultation

about local services or

problems in your local area

13%

7%

None of the above

13%

17%

All adults

16-24 year olds


Profile of a young volunteer

If a charity wanted to reach this young, engaged and altruistic group

of volunteers, it would be worth exploring how they differ from their

peers in terms of personality, lifestyle, and media consumption:

More than half (51%)

are students,

compared with 40%

of their peers.

“I only replace technology

products when they go

wrong or are broken”

18-24 year

old volunteers

“I’m actively on the lookout

to buy new technology

devices and services”

They are most likely to find joy in:

They are more sustainable

with their tech

In terms of being different from their peers, they’re also more….

Accomplishing challenges

68%

Creating something

38%

Learning a new skill

49%

adventurous

environmentally concerned

careful with money


18-24 year

old volunteers

2%

32%

All 18-24

year olds

25%

All 18-24

year olds

7%

“You can only ever get

to know a country by

experiencing its culture”

“I would consider

getting solar panels on

my home”

“It’s not important how

expensive a gift was, it’s

the thought that counts”

“Taking out a loan

is a last resort”

“I find the idea of being

in debt stressful”

“I think it’s important to

seize opportunities”

“I always make the

effort to recycle”

“I like to come back

from holiday having

learned something new”

“We should all drive less

to save the environment”

89%87% 79%

78% 72%

94% 90%

84%

78% 75%

91% 86%

78% 71%

78% 71%

81% 71%

18 to 24 year old volunteers

All 18 to 24 year olds






Young volunteers: lifestyle and media habits


They’re more tuned in to the media

Media consumed in the last week

21% 14%

Read a national newspaper

(e.g. The Times, The Mirror)

11% 7%

Read a regional newspaper

(e.g. The Yorkshire Post, The

London Evening Standard)

27% 23%

Listened to non-commercial

radio (e.g. BBC Radio 1)

55% 51%

Watched non-commercial TV

(e.g. BBC)

11% 9%

Read a magazine

25% 22%

Listened to commercial radio

53% 49%

Watched commercial TV

14% 15%

Listened to a podcast

6% 7%

Read a local newspaper

(e.g. The Hull Daily Mail,

The Bristol Evening Post)

21% 24%

None of these 18-24 year old volunteers

All 18-24 year olds


Young volunteers: lifestyle and media habits


They’re more likely to use public transport or go to the cinema…

and less likely to go to the gym or a sporting event

Activities undertaken in the last week

35%41%

Travelled on a bus

14%16%

Went to the cinema

16%19%

Travelled on a Metro/

Underground train

37%38%

Went to work

20%20%

None of these

6%6%

Other

17%16%

Went to the gym

2%1%

Don’t know

17%23%

Travelled on an

Overground train

7%3%

Went to

a sporting event

18-24 year old volunteers

All 18-24 year olds


03

Charity brand rankings


YouGov CharityIndex allows charity brands to track their public perception based

on 16 different metrics. Here is a snapshot of some of these measures.

Belief in cause

Net score among those who have recently volunteered

03 Charity brand rankings

Satisfaction

Net score among regular donors

Macmillan Cancer Support

Cancer Research UK

British Heart Foundation

Guide Dogs

Help for Heroes

61

60

56

53

50

Among this group of engaged charity supporters, health charities

make up the top three brands they most believe in:

Battersea Dogs & Cats Home

Cats Protection

Dogs Trust

Woodland Trust

RSPB

87

87

87

86

83

Among those who regularly give to charity, animal charities

have the most satisfied givers:


03 Charity brand rankings

Donation intent

Among those who have recently made an ad hoc donation

This group would be most likely to consider giving

£1 to these charities:


Cancer Research UK

British Heart Foundation

Marie Curie

RNLI

54%

51%

42%

38%

38%


Cancer Research UK

Shelter

RNLI

Royal British Legion

17%

16%

6%

6%

6%

...and if they had to choose just one, these are the charities

they would be most likely to give £1 to:

Consideration

Among those who have recently made an ad hoc donation


04

Motivations for donating


In the main, people give to certain charities because they believe in the

cause, but motivations vary. People who give to poverty relief are more

likely to say they simply believe you should give to charity. Those who

give to crime-based charities are more likely to say that they donate

because they have had personal experience of the charity.

04 Motivations for donating

I believe in the cause

I believe you should give to charity

I don’t feel the state does enough to help those in need

I have had personal experience of the charity

I always give to charity

I wanted to support a friend through sponsorship

Giving to charity is part of my religious beliefs

30%

50%

70%

90%

Children and

young people

Animals

The community

Disability

The environment/

conservation

Health and

medicine

Poverty relief/

international development

Public services

Social care

and welfare

Arts/culture

Crime

Faith-based

Housing and

homelessness

Human rights

Education

Military

Motivations for giving


05

Animal charities

vs human charities


Charities relating to health and medicine are the most frequently donated to by Britons in the last

three months (32% of those who have donated to a charity). However animal charities are not far

behind on 27%. This is slightly more than those who give to children and young people (25%), and

far ahead of the rest of the pack.

05 Animal charities vs human charities

Which, if any, of the following causes have you donated to?

% of those who have donated either ad hoc or regularly in past 3 months

(*Rounded to the nearest whole number)

32%

Health and medicine

Top 4

12%

Poverty/international

development

11%

Housing and homelessness

27%

Animals

25%

Children and young people

13%

Disability

11%

Military

10%

The community

10%

The environment/

conservation

8%

Faith-based

8%

Social care and welfare

3%

Human rights

2%

Arts/culture

2%

Public services

2%

Education

0%

*Crime


Would you rather?

It’s no secret that Britain is a nation of pet lovers and when faced with a

hypothetical choice of donating to a charity that focuses on animals or

people, a third (33%) opted for animals while 12% couldn’t decide.


People Animals Don’t know

55%

33%

12%

If you had to choose between the two, would you rather give money

to a charity that looks after animals or a charity that looks after people?

% recent donors


What else do animal lovers care about?

Among the 27% of people who are a recent donor to an animal charity, more than three quarters

(77%) also give to another cause, indicating that the majority don’t just care about animals.


Top 4

What other causes have animal donors given to?

34%

Health and medicine

26%

Children and

young people

19%

The environment/

conservation

19%

Disability

15%

Military

15%

Housing and

homelessness

12%

Poverty relief/

international development

10%

Social care and welfare

6%

Faith-based

5%

Other

4%

Human rights

3%

Education

2%

Public services

2%

Arts/culture

1%

Crime

11%

The community


Animal-only donors

While 77% of those who donate to animal charities also give to

charities that focus on people, 23% give exclusively to animal charities.


Less likely to have

children under 18

More likely to own a pet

More likely to live alone

Less family-orientated

More likely to think the

world is getting worse

Animal-only donors

13%

25%

78%

46%

23%

19%

50%

63%

73%

67%

People-only donors

Animal-only donors are...


06

Can non-donors

be persuaded?


Almost three in ten (29%) Brits have never donated money to charity.

But what are the reasons behind this, and is there any way they could be

convinced to give?

06 Can non-donors be persuaded?

Why don’t they donate?

29%

I can’t afford to

give to charity

32%

I think too much money goes

into administration of charities

rather than the causes

11%

Don’t know

9%

Rather not say

28%

I give to charities in other ways

(e.g. volunteering or donating

goods to a charity shop)

I feel the state should

do the work of charities

through taxation

6%

I don’t believe in

giving to charity

7%

7%

Other

Almost a third (31%) of Brits who do not give money to charity fear that too much money goes on

administration – which may be solved with the right education. Almost three in ten (29%) say they

simply can’t afford it which doesn’t preclude them from future giving. A presumably immovable 7%

say they just don’t believe in giving to charity.

Among this group of non-donors as a whole, almost a fifth (20%) say they are likely to donate in the

future – so they are not completely unreachable by charities.


Conclusion

The fact that the vast majority of Brits (87%) have helped charities in some way

in the past is positive news for the third sector.

Even among the 29% who have never donated money to charity, a fifth say they are

likely to in the future.

The most cited reason for not currently donating is the worry that administrative costs

consume too large a proportion of funds. If charities could reassure this group, perhaps

with educational marketing, this may become less of a barrier.

Many young people also seem to have an appetite for altruism and, if charities can keep

this enthusiastic group engaged, it’s possible they will remain loyal for years to come.

Animal charities have the highest levels of satisfaction among supporters. Could other

causes learn from them, or are Britons just inherently fond of animals?

Belief in the cause is the number one reason people donate to their chosen charity.

However, it varies after that; charities could focus on the motivations that most apply

to their supporters.

This white paper represents a small fraction of what we know about charities and their

supporters. Get in touch to find out more.

David Ellis

Director

––

+44 207 012 6000

[email protected]


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